I was wondering if anyone out there had an experience with these meds during pregnancy?? Also did anyone take them for post partum depression? With dd, I had some trouble with that I am just looking at my options. Ideally I don't want to use medication but at the same time I will be having this baby while my dh is gone and I can't afford to be emotionally unstable and take care of my kids and deal with houseguests. I'm just trying to make sure that I take care of myself so that I don't fall apart later.

Hi, I'm from the March o7 DDC and I have been taking Zoloft before and during my whole pregnancy. I was told it was the safest anti depreesant to take during pregnancy and from a personal perspective, it's pretty safe.

I've always heard that if they are really needed it is better to take them than to suffer. I do know that some are not safe during pregnancy, like paxil. I had a friend who was taking paxil and found out she was pregnant and was told to stop it immediately. I think the biggest problem is that there hasn't been too much research done on how antidepressants impact pregnancy because most people are not willing to risk participating in those types of studies.

There are some homeopathic remedies that you can use that are safe during pregnancy. Calms forte is one and it's by Hylands. Or you could meet with a naturopath and get your own prescription that fits you best.

I don't blame you for being proactive and wanting to have a plan ahead of time!

Actually I took paxil from 9weeks pg to 7 months pg because of pg induced depression. If I had it to do over I would have went with zoloft instead but my mw was more familiar with paxil. And her book said that it was rated safe to use while pg. That may have changed since having ds tho.

Anti depressents like paxil and zoloft have been shown to cause breathing difficulties in newborns if it was taken within 2 weeks of the birth. That is why I went off paxil at 7months after finding that data out.

There are other a-d's that are safe to take while pg and bfing as well.

It seems that Zoloft use in late pregnancy significantly increases the potential need for hospitalization and breathing assistance in the newborn period and has also been shown to cause an increased risk of neonatal death.

So unless you take either one right up till the birth there is no rsiks they have found. Personally if I was taking either one I would wean myself off in the 7th month of pg slowly and then go back on if needed for ppd after the birth. And avoid taking either one in the first trimester if at all possible especially paxil. That tho is just MY opinion on what I would do.

My husband is a research scientist (molecular embryologist), though he works with frogs, chickens and worms--not people.

He has discovered links between serotonin inhibitors (I hope I'm getting that right, since I'm not a scientist--Prozac is an example of something he's studied) and genetic defects.

HOWEVER, of course, this is in a different animal system. Also, I expect it is safer now than in the earliest weeks, since our babies in this DDC have all passed the earliest "form-all-the-organs" stage, and now they are just growing everything to be bigger and more fully developed. Frankly, most things that affect our babies now will do so less disasterously than things could've in the beginning.

I'm not trying to add off-topic info, nor would I try to suggest anyone do without medication they need to function. I just thought it was worth putting out there in case someone in the earlier weeks is considering the same question...

I went on Zoloft while BFing with my first son (long-term depression that went out of control with the stress of being a mom). I used it while nursing and then while pregnant with ds#2 and have continued to use it with this pregnancy. My OB said that it's better for me to be comfortable than for me to go off the drug while taking care of two toddlers. She said the only thing she would "worry" about was the newborn possibly going through withdrawal after they are born. Ds#2 is my only example of a baby born while mom is on the drug, and he ended up in the NICU for pneumonia from aspirating meconium and then for a blood incompatibility that we had. This baby will likely have the same incompatibility and thus also need to go to the NICU. I don't know what a baby going through withdrawal would look like, but ds#2 acted just like ds#1, who had not been exposed to Zoloft.